Senate Bill No. 450
(By Senators Ross and Helmick)
____________
[Introduced February 21, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
____________
A BILL to provide a stable method of financing the operation of
the Upshur County public library located in Upshur county,
West Virginia, as the same was organized under the
provisions of article one, chapter ten of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
by creating a separate library board with power to operate
such public library to serve the residents of the county of
Upshur; requiring levy at request of boards with an annual
cap of seventy-five thousand dollars; providing workers'
compensation coverage for library employees; vesting title
to library property; and providing for application of future
amendments to general law.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
UPSHUR COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY.
§1. Public library board created; joint support by the county
board of education and county commission of Upshur County,West Virginia.
There is hereby created a public library board, which shall
operate the Upshur County public library, which library shall be
supported by the board of education of the county of Upshur and
by the county commission of Upshur County, as a joint endeavor of
two governing authorities in the manner hereinafter provided.
§2. Board of directors; appointment, powers and duties
generally; officers, bylaws and rules.
There shall be a board of directors consisting of five
directors who shall serve without compensation. Before the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the board of
education of the county of Upshur shall appoint two members of
such board of directors, appointing one member for the term of
one year and one member for the term of four years. The county
commission of Upshur County shall appoint three members to the
board of directors, appointing one member for the term of two
years, one member for a term of three years, and one member for
the term of five years. The initial terms of these appointees
shall commence on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-four. Annually thereafter, on or before the first
day of July in each year beginning on the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-five, the two supporting entities
shall in rotation, appoint one member of the board of directors
annually, the first such appointment to be made by the board of
education of Upshur County, the second such appointment to be
made by the county commission of Upshur County. Each appointmentto the board of directors of said library shall be for a term of
five years, except that any person appointed to fill a vacancy
occurring before the expiration of that term shall serve only for
the unexpired portion thereof. Any member of the board shall be
eligible for reappointment and the governing authority which
appointed any member to the board may remove that member for
cause.
There shall be an annual meeting of the board of directors
in July of each year and a monthly meeting on the day of each
month which the board may designate. A special meeting may be
called by the president, the secretary, or any two members of the
board and such special meeting shall be held only after all of
the directors are given notice thereof. At all meetings three
members shall constitute a quorum and at each annual meeting of
the board of directors it shall elect, from its membership, a
president, a vice president, a secretary and a treasurer:
Provided, That the director of the library may be elected as the
secretary. The board of directors shall adopt such bylaws and
rules as are necessary for its own guidance and for the
administration, supervision and protection of the library and all
of the property belonging thereto. The board of directors shall
have all of the powers necessary, convenient and advisable for
the proper operation, equipment and management of said library;
and except as otherwise especially provided in this article,
shall have the powers and be subject to the duties which are
conferred and imposed, respectively, upon library directors bysections six through eleven, article one, chapter ten of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, or by subsequent enactments of the Legislature of West
Virginia.
§3. A body corporate.
The public library hereby created shall be a corporation.
As such it may contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued,
plead and be impleaded, and shall have and use a common seal.
§4. Title to property.
The title to all property, both real and personal,
hereinafter devoted to public library purposes by the board of
education or the county of Upshur, in connection with the
operation of it by a public library in the county of Upshur, and
any branches of such library, shall, on the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, vest in the board of
directors of the Upshur County public library, hereby created.
§5. Levies for support, maintenance and operation.
In order to provide for the support, maintenance, and
operations of the Upshur County public library and any branches
thereof, the said supporting governing authorities shall, upon
written request by the board of directors of the public library,
levy annually within the respective taxing districts of the
governing authorities, on each one hundred dollars of assessed
valuation of the respective classes of property taxable in the
area served by it according to the last assessment for state and
county purposes, up to the following rates beginning with thefiscal year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-four.
(a) The county commission of Upshur County, for the first
year and annually thereafter:
Class I, six-tenths cents;
Class II, III and IV, eight-tenths cents.
(b) The board of education of the county of Upshur for the
first year and annually thereafter:
Class I, nine-tenths cents;
Class II, III and IV, one and one-tenths cents.
Each year the board of directors shall request each of the
two supporting authorities to levy within the rates prescribed
above, at the rates specified by the board, on each one hundred
dollars of assessed valuation of property of the same class; and
each of the two supporting authorities shall levy at the rates
requested by the aforesaid board: Provided, That the sum of such
revenues or levies shall not exceed seventy-five thousand dollars
in any one year. Nothing herein shall prevent any of the
supporting authorities from contributing to the public library,
from time to time, any other general or specific revenues or
excess levies.
§6. Deposit and disbursement of funds.
All money collected or appropriated by the two governing
authorities for library purposes shall be deposited on a
quarterly basis directed by the board of directors of the Upshur
County public library in a bank or savings account specified bythe board.
All moneys appropriated to the Upshur County public library
and all income realized by the operation of the public library
from any sources other than the above levies shall be used by the
board of directors for the support, maintenance and operation of
the said public library and its branches.
The board is hereby vested with authority to accumulate a
surplus from year to year over and above the amount currently
required for the proper operation, maintenance and management of
the library. Such accumulated surplus may be used if and as
needed for support, maintenance and operation of the library, and
for capital improvements, additions or extensions to library
facilities.
§7. Status of employees.
All full-time employees of the Upshur County public library
shall be entitled to the benefits of the provisions of chapter
twenty-three, and articles seven and ten, chapter five of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended.
§8. Effect of future amendments of general law.
Amendments to article one, chapter ten of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, and
other general laws shall control this article only to the extent
that they do not conflict with the special features hereof, or
unless the intent to amend this article is clear and
unmistakable.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a stable
method of financing the operation of the Upshur County public
library by creating a separate library board to serve the county
residents; by requiring a levy at the request of employees, with
a cap of $75,000; by vesting title to the property; and by
providing for application of future amendments to general law.